Burning Wheel PC build includes scope for establishing Relationships (to NPCs), Affiliations (with organisations which will themselves have a location, reach etc) and Reputations (which are particular to a locale and/or social stratum), and also for PCs owning property.One thing that I have been noticing in a fair number of TTRPGs over the past decade has been an increased attention to giving PCs a base, stronghold, or community that, in some respects, acts as a shared point of interest for the party.
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I am sure there are plenty of more and I certainly welcome hearing about them.
These things can change over time, as part of the overall process of PC development and as a result of events that occur in play (ie consequences of action resolution). But there is no notion of an "end game" to these things as is found in (say) AD&D.
HeroWars/Quest has extensive rules for communities. In HeroWars, and I would guess (but don't know for sure) in HeroQuest played in Glorantha, community support is particularly important to permit heroquesting (ie "spiritual" travel into the "other side" of myth, spirits, etc). The standing of the community, and the PC's standing with the community, can change over time including as a result of the PC's actions.
Apocalypse World includes playbooks centred around gangs or cults (the Chopper, the Hocus) and around strongholds (the Hardholder). The relationship of the PC to these things is a big part of the focus of play (eg their are player-side moves which, if failed, might involve a gang or cult turning on its PCs leader).
At least in the games I've described, it's because the intended focus of play is not on "the adventure" but rather on "the character, and how they make their way through the social world in which they find themselves" (though I should add - this is not mandatory in BW, but is a natural tendency of the system).But what might have triggered this renewed interest in having bases, communities, and strongholds be a part of play?
A focus on this sort of fiction also suggests a change in techniques and authority over various elements of the fiction - eg social resolution mechanics that enable players to have input into how it is that their Pcs make their way through the social world in which they find themselves.
That sort of change in authority over elements of the fiction, in turn, reduces railroading.
Whether awareness of that downstream effect is a cause of the upstream design choice I'm not sure. I don't think it's irrelevant in the case of the games I've mentioned.